Scouring and washing machine



2 Sheets-'-Sheet 1.

Patented Sept. 3, 1889.

(No Model.)

S. HODGSON.

SGOURING AND WASHING MACHINE.

w W m T B N N E R .0 N W T I T A Y B 1i||| .l Illa. A MN 5 H M .1 I j n ml H II IF m N M Q A W & Jr ikvmlru N\ my QM- t R N WITNESSES flwww UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL HODGSON, OF MEDlVAY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,

AND FRANK E. ANDERSON, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SCOURING AND WASHING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,519, dated September 3, 1889.

Application filed November 1, 1888. Serial No. 289,707. (No model.) Patented in England November 27, 1888, No 17,271 in France November 30, 1888, No. 194, 4.52; in Germany December 7, 1888; in Belgium March 2, 1889, No. 85,234, and in Cape of Good Hope March 29, 1889, N0. 58.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL HODGSON, of Medway, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Scouring and 1V ashing Machine, (for which I have obtained patents in England November 27, 1888, No. 17,271; in France November 30, 1888, No.191,152; in Germany December 7, 1888 in Belgium March 2,1885), No. 85,234, and in Cape of Good Hope March 29, 1889, No. 58,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to machines for scouring and washing wool or other fibrous material, the main objects of theinvention being to provide for a uniform submersion of all of the wool or other fiber operated upon and to provide for a submersion of any desired length of time.

To the ends named the invention consists, essentially, of a normally-filled tube or conduit and a flushing mechanism arranged in connection therewith, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similarfigures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of my improved scouring and washing machine, the view being taken on the broken line as oo of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine, the fiber-hopper being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 1 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4: is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the flushing-tanks.

In constructing the machine forming the subj cot-matter of this application I provide a tube 10, at one end of which there is arranged a hopper 11, while the other end of the tube is raised, so that the lower edge of the discharge-opening a will be above the level of the top of the main bodyof the tube.

Within the hopper 11, I mount a tilting flushing-tank 12, the trunnions of said tank riding in boxes that are held to slide in vertical slots 1), formed in the side walls of the hopper 11; or the trunnions could ride directly in the slots 1).

To one of the trunnions of the flushingtank 12, I rigidly connect a lever 13, that is provided With a counterbalancing-weight 14, the weight being held to the lever by a setscrew or in any other desired manner, so that it may be adjusted toward or from the tanktrunnion in order to regulate the amount of liquid delivered at pach tilting of the tank, as will be readily understood.

Beneath and just beyond the delivery end of the tube 10, I arrange a perforated recei ing tray or pan 15, and in the construction illustrated in the drawings it will be seen that the tube 10 is bent at about right angles at a point 0, the object of this construction being to economize space.

At one side of the tray 15, I mount a lever 16, the inner end of said lever carrying a presser-foot 17, while the outer end of the lever supports a counterbalancing-weight 18. The lever 16 is provided with an upwardlyextending arm 19,to which there is connected a cord 20, said cord passing over sheaves 21 and 22 to the bail 2 of the tank 12; or the cord could be connected to the tank in any other desired manner. The Weight 18 acts to normally hold the tank 12 in the position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

Beneath the tray 15 there is a gatheringtrap 23, which discharges into a return-pipe 24, said pipe 24 leading to a tank 25, and in connection with this tank I arrange a steampulsometcr 26, which acts to force a stream of liquid up through a supply-pipe 27, the arran gement being such that all liquid passing out of the delivery end of the tube 10 will be returned to the tank 25, to be pumped thence through the tube 27 to the tilting flushingtank 12, a proper liquid-heating apparatus being arranged in connection with the tank 25.

Above the hopper l 1, I arrange a hopper 28, adapted to receive the staple in connection with which my cleansing-machine is designed to operate, and in connection With the hopper 28, I arrange one or more rakes 29, that are operated in any desired manneras, for instance, by a crankshaft 30,1;0 which the rakes are connected by pitmen 31.

We will suppose that the apparatus is to be used for thecleansin g of wool, in which case the wool to be operated upon is placed in the hopper 28. The liquid in the tank 25 is heated, and the pulsometer is set in operation, so as to deliver a stream from the pipe 27. Then as the rakes 29 are reciprocated they will carry a portion of the material out of the hopper 28, r

and the wool so carried out of the hopper 28 will be freed from the rakes and carried into the flushing-tank 12 by the stream flowing from the nozzle 27. As the flushing-tank 12 fills, the weight 14 will be overbalanced, and the tank, tilting to the position indicated by dotted lines, will deliver its contents to the hopper 11, and thence to the tube 10, the tank gradually lowering as it fills, and as the tank so lowers the cord 20 will be drawn in the direction of its arrow, and the presser 17 will be forced downward-gradually against the staple in the tray 15. Immediately after the tank 12 has discharged, the weights 14 and 18 will act to return it to the position shown in Fig. 1.

In order'that a continuous current may be maintained within the tube 10, I provide the tank 12 with a discharge-tube 32, the flow from I said tube being regulated by a stop-cock.

As each successive charge from the tank 12- is delivered to the tube 10 the preceding charges will be forced forward within the tube toward its delivery end, and in order that there may be no danger of the jamming of the staple within the tube I greatly prefer that. the tube should be made so as to gradually increase in diameter from the hopper 11 to its delivery end, this gradual increase being shown in the drawings.

As before stated, a continuous current or flow of liquid is maintained within the tube 10, the liquid so delivered to the tube passing therefrom through a series of apertures 3, formed in the under side of the upturned delivery end oft-he tubef or a portion of the 1iquid maypass directly out of the end of the tube, the amount of liquid passing throughthe perforations 3 being controlled by a.

slide After the staple has passed throughthe tube 10 it is rinsed in water, and this rinsing.

may be brought about in any desired manner; but I greatly prefer that the rinsing:

should be done by means of a series of flushing-tanks, such as those shown at 40, 41, 42, and 43, said tanks being mounted upon trunnions which rest in bearings 35 upon the side walls of a washing-tray 36, the bottom of said traybeing sinuous, whereby there are formed basins 44, 45, and 46, and beneath these basins there is arranged a drip-tank 47.

The flushing-tanks 40, 41, 42, and 43 are provided with counterbalancing-Weights 4 and with upwardly-extending lever-arms 5, and to the lever-arm 5 of the tank 43 there is pivotally connected a rearwardly-extending rod 48, which is slotted at 6 to receive a pin that is carried by the lever-arm of the tank 42, and the lever-arm of the tank 42 is in turn pivotally connected to a slotted rod 49, which rod is connected to the lever-arm of the tank 41, and this method of connection is continued throughout the series of tanks. In the drawings I have shown four flushing-tanks; but I desire it to be understood that any number of tanks could be employed.

The tanks 41,42, and 43, when they tilt, deliver their contents to the basins 44, 45, and 46; but the tank 40 delivers its contents to the tray 15 and is timed to tilt so that it will deliver its contents just as the presser 17 is risingthat is, just after the tank 12 has discharged its contents. The discharge of the tanks 43, 42, and 41 is timed so that the tank 43 in discharging will draw upon its rod 48 and insure the discharge of the tank 42 immediately after its own discharge, the discharge of the tank 42 bringing about the discharge of the tank 41, and the tank 41 of the tank 40, so that as each tank discharges its contents will wash the staple subjected to its flow into the next basin in advance.

The tanks 40 to 43 are fed from a supplypipe 52, each tank being provided with a feeding-nozzle, the capacity of the nozzle exceeding that of the tank discharge-nozzles 7. The discharge-nozzles 7 are provided in order that the staple in the basins 44, 45, and46 may be continually agitated, the flow from said nozzles being governed by stop-cocks, if desired In order that the staple when sub- .jected to the action of the streams flowing from the nozzles 7 may tend to keep up a rothe lever 5 tilts forward it will act to forcibly throw the presser 17 downward. In the construction shown in the drawings the cord 50 passes'about a sheave 51.

From the construction above described it will be seen that by'increasing the flow of liquid from the supply-pipe 27, I increase the frequency of the tilting of the tank 12, .or by cut-ting down the supply of liquid I decrease such tilting. It will also be seen that by shifting the weight 14, I may regulate theamount of liquid delivered at each tilting of the tank, whereby I am enabled to regulate with the greatest nicety the lengthof time that the staple remains in the liquid delivered to the tube 10. The desired regulation may also be brought about through the medium of the stop-cock arranged in connection with the discharge-tube 32.

I'have described this invention as one par ticularly adapted to the cleansing and wash ing of wool; but I desire it to be distinctly understood that the machine could be used in the cleansing and washing of any other material, and that it could be used in the dyeing, washing, or treatment in any way of materials in processes where it is desirable to submerge the material. I further desire it to be understood that in this specification I have used the term staple in the sense of unfinished material or material needing treatment.

Although I have stated that the pumping of the liquid from the tank 25 is brought about by a pulsometer, still I desire it to be understood that any proper form of pump might be employed for this purpose.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent- 1. The combination, with a substantially horizontal tube that is normally filled with liquid, of a staple-supplying mechanism and a tube-flushing mechanism, as and for the purpose stated.

2. The combination, with a tube normally filled with liquid, of a means for delivering a constant supply of liquid to the tube and a means for delivering an intermittent supply of liquid thereto.

The combination, with a tube provided with an upturned and perforated delivery end, of a tube-flushing mechanism, as and for the purpose stated.

4. The combination, with a tube having an upturned delivery end, of a receiving-tray arranged in advance of said delivery end, a staple-compressiu g mechanism, and a tube-flushing mechanism, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a tube having an upturned delivery end, of a receiving-tray arranged in advance of said delivery end, a staple-compressing mechanism, a flushing-tank, and connections between the flushing-tank and the staple-compressing mechanism, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a tube having an upturned delivery end, of a receiving-tray arranged in advance of said delivery end, a staple-compressing mechanism, a vertically-movable and tilting flushing-tank, and connections between said flushing-tank and the staple-compressing mechanism, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a tube provided with an upturned delivery end and with a receiving-hopper, of. a tilting flushing-tank mounted in said hopper, a staple-receiving hopper, and a staple-delivery mechanism, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a tube provided with a hopper and an upturned and perforated delivery end, of a tube-flushing attachment and a slide, said slide being arranged in connection with the perforated delivery end, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a hopper and a flushing mechanism, of a tube connected thereto and formed with an upturned delivery end, the tube gradually increasing in diameter from the hopper to its delivery end, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with a tube or conduit having its main portion lying in a plane below its inlet and outlet, of an intermittent staple-feeding mechanism and an intermittent flushing mechanism, as and for the purpose stated.

11. The combination, with a series of basins, of aseries of flushing-tanks and connections between said tanks, as and for the purpose stated.

12. The combination, with a series of basins, of a series of pivotallymounted tanks provided with lever-arms, and slotted arms pivotally connected to the tank lever-arms,

and extending to the rear to engage with pins carried by the lever-arms of the tanks to the rear, said pins passing through the rod-slots, substantially as described.

13. The combination, with a tube provided with a hopper and an upturned delivery end, of a staple-feeding mechanism, a tube-flushing mechanism, a staple-compressing mechanism, and a staple-washing mechanism, substantially as described.

14. The combination, with a tube or conduit normally filled with liquid, of a liquidsupply attachment and a means for imparting an intermittent impulse to the liquid within the tube, as and for the purpose stated.

SAMUEL I-IODGSON. \Vitnosses:

EDWARD KENT, J r., EDGAR TATE. 

